Arthur Lord

Journo

Arthur Lord, Emmy- and Peabody-winning NBC News producer, died Sept. 25 at UCLA Medical Center after an extended illness. He was 60.

New York native and U of Fla. grad served in the Air Force as a public information officer, then joined NBC in 1966 as a news writer and producer for Chet Huntley, David Brinkley and Frank McGee.

In 1971 he became an on-air corre-spondent and covered the war in Vietnam. After 18 months, he became the network’s Houston bureau chief, then returned to Vietnam in 1975 as Saigon bureau chief, arranging the evacuation of 104 NBC Vietnamese employees and their families during the fall of Saigon to the Viet Cong.

After that, he Lord headed the net’s Burbank news bureau 1979-82 and then worked as a producer for NBC News special projects, coordinating such coverage as papal visits and presidential trips.

The winner of Emmys and a Peabody, he also became known as a media critic, particularly of the way TV handled the O.J. Simpson trial. He was also was chosen to probe a 1993 “Dateline NBC” report on the safety of GM trucks in which producers rigged a pickup explosion. Scandal led to the ankling of NBC News President Michael Gartner and others.

Lord retired from NBC in 1996 but remained active in journo circles including a stint as prexy of the L.A. Press Club.

He is survived by wife Susan, a son, two daughters and two grandchildren.

Donations in his memory can be sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104.